𝟏.| ✬ 𝒟ℯ𝒶𝓇 ℬ𝒾𝓁𝓁, ✬ {ℬ. 𝒲ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓁ℯ𝓎}

\𝓉𝓌ℯ𝓃𝓉𝓎-𝓉𝒽𝓇ℯℯ\

~𝓌𝒾𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇 - 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓇𝒹 𝓎ℯ𝒶𝓇 (𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓉𝓌ℴ)~

The next morning, Phillipa shook Eleanora awake almost a half an hour later than usual. "Are you sick?" was her first question. Eleanora certainly felt it. Her head ached and she shivered when she sat up despite the warm temperature of the dormitory.

"No," she said. "Well, maybe. But I've got to go to class today and I have quidditch tonight."

Phillipa frowned at her. "If you're sick, you need to rest," she said in a motherly voice.

"I'll go to Madame Pomfrey if it gets any worse," Eleanora mumbled. When she stood up, a wave a nausea rolling over her. She somehow managed to get dressed and show up at the Gryffindor table in time for the mail, but she wasn't exactly sure how. Her brain was muddled and foggy with fever.

Fred eyed her carefully as she sat down. "You look terrible," he said matter of factly. She muttered an incoherent response. The twins exchanged worried glances. The post owls swooped down around them, dropping envelopes at various students places. Circe landed gracefully in front of Eleanora's plate, sticking out her leg to which a letter was fastened. She took the letter and fed Circe her untouched toast.

"Eat something, Nora," George coaxed, but she ignored him, tearing open the envelope on which she recognized her mother's scrawl. As she scanned the words, her eyes widened, and then immediately filled with tears. The twins tried to lean over her shoulder to see what it was about, but she stood up hastily, almost knocking her chair out from behind her. Clenching the letter in her fist, Eleanora ran out of the great hall.

~

Nobody saw her for the rest of the day. The twins checked the map after third period and found that she was in the hospital wing. After some questioning, Phillipa explained to them the state Eleanora had been in that morning. Phillipa reasoned that after reading whatever had been in that letter, Eleanora probably wanted space.

The twins didn't see Eleanora again until they got back from quidditch practice that night. They'd explained to Charlie as much of the situation as they knew, making him more worried about his star chaser's well-being than annoyed at her absence. When the twins climbed through the portrait hole, they immediately spotted Eleanora sitting in their usual corner of armchairs with Lee Jordan, reading a book in silence while he did homework. Fred and George strode over, sat in their usual chairs, and looked to Eleanora expectantly. She bookmarked her page in the book and set it aside.

"How was practice?" she asked in an even tone.

"It was fine- that's not important. Are you alright?" Fred was talking even faster than usual.

She gave him an uneasy smile. "Uhhhh, yeah. Went to the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey gave me some stuff to help take the fever down and make me feel better."